你是否該接受海外派遣？
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????親愛的安妮：我是一名接受過培訓(xùn)的工程師，目前在一家《財(cái)富》500強(qiáng)（Fortune 500）公司任職，負(fù)責(zé)公司在北美洲的生產(chǎn)工作。最近，我們部門的主管一直在試探我的意見。他計(jì)劃派我去西班牙，因?yàn)楣驹谀抢镌O(shè)有幾家工廠，希望我去處理一些生產(chǎn)方面的問題，或者將我派往一個(gè)拉丁美洲國(guó)家，因?yàn)楣緦⒃谀抢镩_展新業(yè)務(wù)。（我估計(jì)他向我提出這兩個(gè)選擇是因?yàn)槲沂俏靼嘌酪幔椅业奈靼嘌勒Z(yǔ)說得非常流利。） ????我不知道是否該接受外派，如果接受的話，又該選擇哪一個(gè)。外派海外一年或兩年，肯定會(huì)非常有挑戰(zhàn)性，當(dāng)然也會(huì)非常有意思。但是，我的朋友們?cè)?jīng)接受過類似的委派，最后他們都后悔了。他們警告我，如果我接受了，會(huì)被總部 “遺忘”，最終導(dǎo)致我在職場(chǎng)上失敗。您有什么看法？ ????——糾結(jié)者? ????親愛的糾結(jié)者：毫無疑問，這是一個(gè)非常復(fù)雜的決定，而且也是越來越多的管理人員將要面對(duì)的問題。根據(jù)布魯克菲爾德全球重置服務(wù)公司（Brookfield Global Relocation Services）進(jìn)行的一項(xiàng)名為“全球重置趨勢(shì)2011年調(diào)查報(bào)告”（Global Relocation Trends 2011 Survey Report）的研究顯示，去年外派員工的數(shù)量有所增加，這是自2006年以來的首次增加。該研究顯示，2011年，全球約有61%的公司預(yù)計(jì)，將委派更多管理人員前往海外，這一數(shù)字創(chuàng)歷史最高紀(jì)錄。 ????與留在國(guó)內(nèi)的同事相比，這些被外派的管理人員或許會(huì)擁有更多優(yōu)勢(shì)。雷鳥（Thunderbird）國(guó)際工商管理學(xué)院全球化思維研究院（Global Mindset Institute）的研究項(xiàng)目主管曼索爾?賈維丹表示，跨國(guó)工作經(jīng)驗(yàn)被越來越多地作為擔(dān)任高層管理職位的先決條件。 ????近期研究證明了他的觀點(diǎn)。行政發(fā)展咨詢公司國(guó)際健康公司（Healthy Companies International）的客戶包括英特爾（Intel）、諾斯洛普?格魯曼公司（Northrop Grumman）、強(qiáng)生公司（Johnson & Johnson）和波音公司（Boeing）。該公司對(duì)《財(cái)富》美國(guó)100強(qiáng)（Fortune 100）企業(yè)的公司級(jí)管理人員的職業(yè)發(fā)展進(jìn)行研究后發(fā)現(xiàn)，每10名高層管理人員中，有7人在海外擔(dān)任過管理職位。而在10年前，這一比例還不到5/10。 ????美國(guó)紐約市獵頭公司雷恩斯國(guó)際（Raines International）首席執(zhí)行官布魯斯?雷恩斯表示：“在現(xiàn)在的一些大公司，如果你希望爬到高層主管的位置，那你至少要有一次重要的駐國(guó)外工作的經(jīng)歷。” ????但是，在打點(diǎn)行囊之前，你應(yīng)該考慮一下幾個(gè)重要的忠告。首先，在一個(gè)陌生的環(huán)境中，并不是每個(gè)人都能取得成功。全球化思維研究院列舉了三個(gè)主要特質(zhì)，這是外派人員取得成功所必備的（同時(shí)還有一個(gè)小測(cè)試，公司可以用來確定外派候選人是否具備這些特質(zhì)）。 ????外派任務(wù)的三個(gè)效果預(yù)測(cè)條件分別是：熟悉國(guó)際企業(yè)的工作方式，以及快速接受信息的能力；對(duì)不同文化的開放性，以及適應(yīng)新習(xí)俗的能力；“社會(huì)資本”，也就是有能力召集人員，創(chuàng)建聯(lián)盟，并影響那些在文化和政治理念上與你存在差異的人。 ????曼索爾?賈維丹認(rèn)為，如果沒有這三項(xiàng)技能，“人們會(huì)在規(guī)定時(shí)間之前就打道回府了，或者，他們壓根就實(shí)現(xiàn)不了既定的目標(biāo)。生意最終會(huì)丟失，他們的職業(yè)和人際關(guān)系也會(huì)被破壞。”當(dāng)然，作為管理人員的職業(yè)規(guī)劃也難以幸免。 ????在接受外派工作之前，坦率地列出自己在這三個(gè)方面的優(yōu)勢(shì)和劣勢(shì)，并且不要猶豫，馬上詢問人力資源部，公司是否有相關(guān)培訓(xùn)，可以幫你做好接受新職務(wù)的準(zhǔn)備。目前，大部分跨國(guó)公司都會(huì)提供這種培訓(xùn)。 ????你會(huì)講西班牙語(yǔ)，這應(yīng)該可以助你一臂之力。布魯斯?雷恩斯表示：“在接受外派任務(wù)時(shí)，所有管理人員都必須學(xué)會(huì)當(dāng)?shù)氐恼Z(yǔ)言，熟悉當(dāng)?shù)氐奈幕＿@一點(diǎn)必須著重強(qiáng)調(diào)。相比其他國(guó)家的管理人員，美國(guó)人通常在這方面要慢半拍。” ????如果你擔(dān)心在外派工作期間被總部“遺忘”，雷恩斯告訴你，你不需要太過于擔(dān)憂：“在互聯(lián)網(wǎng)出現(xiàn)之前，被派往海外的人確實(shí)會(huì)被孤立。而現(xiàn)在，有了Skype、視頻會(huì)議，以及其他各種技術(shù)，你絕對(duì)不會(huì)失去跟總部的聯(lián)系。” ????當(dāng)然，這并不是說，到海外工作不會(huì)給你的職業(yè)帶來風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。你說你的部門主管提到，要將你外派“一年或兩年”。雷恩斯說他經(jīng)常遇到這種意外的事情，一年或者兩年，最終變成了五年或是六年。 ????他表示：“這種情況經(jīng)常發(fā)生。你為公司在海外打拼那么長(zhǎng)時(shí)間，可等你回來的時(shí)候，公司已經(jīng)發(fā)生了很大變化，并且沒有適合你的工作崗位了。而你也只能有兩個(gè)選擇，要么讓步，要么辭職。”這種結(jié)果簡(jiǎn)直太糟糕了！ ????為了保證萬無一失，雷恩斯建議，“除非即使你最終離開目前的公司，你所接受的外派工作也能對(duì)你的職業(yè)有所幫助”，否則還是拒絕吧。 ????雷恩斯還建議，你應(yīng)該盡量要求在足夠大的區(qū)域內(nèi)，直接負(fù)責(zé)公司的盈虧，因?yàn)椋@些技能將是你到其他公司就職的資本。 ????另外，雷恩斯還表示，關(guān)于去西班牙還是拉丁美洲的問題，很大程度上取決于你對(duì)風(fēng)險(xiǎn)的態(tài)度。 ????“如果你非常具有創(chuàng)業(yè)精神，那么新興市場(chǎng)——包括巴西、南美洲其他地區(qū)、越南、莫斯科、中國(guó)等——就是你的戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)。你可以確立‘神槍手’的好名聲，并獲得快速提升。” ????但如果你更保守，不愿意承擔(dān)風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，“那你最好去歐洲，或者其他成熟的市場(chǎng)，因?yàn)樵谀切┑胤剑呀?jīng)形成了常規(guī)的工作流程，并且保持著一定的業(yè)績(jī)記錄。” ????還有一件事：如果你決定接受外派，可以看一下移居海外信息網(wǎng)（Expat Info Desk），該網(wǎng)站提供了大量寶貴的經(jīng)驗(yàn)，從給寵物搬家到如何敲定切實(shí)可行的外派雇傭合同。網(wǎng)站的創(chuàng)始人喬治?伊夫斯本人就是一位擁有豐富經(jīng)驗(yàn)的海外移居者。 ????祝你一切順利！ ? |
????Dear Annie: I am an engineer by training, currently running a big chunk of North American manufacturing for a global Fortune 500 company. Recently, the head of my division has been sounding me out about moving either to Spain, to tackle some productivity issues at a couple of plants we have there, or else to one of several Latin American countries where we are starting up new ventures. (I assume that these particular options are on the table because I'm of Hispanic extraction and already speak fluent Spanish.) ????I'm having trouble deciding whether to jump at either of these offers, and if so, which one. Moving overseas for a year or two would certainly be challenging and interesting. But friends of mine, who took similar assignments and later regretted doing so, warn me that I'd be "out of sight, out of mind" back at headquarters and that this would ultimately trip up my career. What do you think? —Not Packing Yet ????Dear Not Packing: No question about it, this is a complicated decision, and one that more and more managers are facing. The number of employees sent abroad rose last year for the first time since 2006, says a study from Brookfield Global Relocation Services called the Global Relocation Trends 2011 Survey Report . According to the study, a record-setting 61% of companies around the world expect to ship more managers to foreign shores in 2011. ????Those globetrotting managers may have an edge over their stay-at-home peers. International experience is "more frequently becoming a prerequisite" for top-level executive jobs, notes Mansour Javidan, dean of research at international business school Thunderbird's Global Mindset Institute. ????Recent studies suggest he's right. Executive development consultants Healthy Companies International, whose clients include Intel (INTC), Northrop Grumman (NOC), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), and Boeing (BA), examined the career paths of C-level managers at Fortune 100 companies and found that more than 7 out of 10 have held management jobs in foreign climes. That's up from fewer than 5 in 10 a decade ago. ????"In many big companies now, you need at least one substantial international assignment if you want to climb the executive ladder," says Bruce Raines, CEO of New York City executive search firm Raines International. ????Before you start packing, however, consider a couple of important caveats. First, not everyone is cut out to thrive in an unfamiliar place. The Global Mindset Institute has identified three main traits that successful expats share (and a quiz that companies can use to determine whether overseas candidates have them). ????The three predictors of effectiveness in a foreign assignment: Solid knowledge of the workings of international business and a capacity to quickly absorb information; openness to different cultures and a knack for adapting to new customs and mores; and "social capital," defined as the ability to bring people together, create alliances, and influence others who are culturally or politically different. ????Without all three of these skills, says Mansour Javidan, "people come home before their contracted time, or they don't achieve their goals. Business is lost, and professional and personal relationships can be damaged." So can a manager's career. ????Before you accept an overseas gig, make an honest inventory of your strengths and weaknesses in those three areas, and don't hesitate to ask HR if training is available to help you prepare for your new role. At most big global companies these days, it is. ????The fact that you already speak Spanish should give you a big leg up. "All managers who take an overseas assignment must learn the language and study the culture," says Bruce Raines. "I can't stress that enough, and Americans in general tend to be slower off the mark in this regard than managers from other countries." ????As for your fear that you'll be "out of sight, out of mind" at headquarters, Raines says you needn't worry too much: "Before the Internet, people sent overseas were isolated. Now, with Skype, videoconferencing, and all the other technology that's available, you're never really out of touch." ????That's not to say that going abroad poses no risks to your career. You say that your division head has mentioned sending you abroad for "a year or two." Raines says one hazard he has often seen arises when that year or two turns into five or six. ????"This happens a lot," he says. "By the time you do get back, after a long stint abroad, the organization has changed so that there's no comparable job for you. So you either take a step down or leave the company." Gulp. ????To be on the safe side, Raines urges you not to take an overseas assignment "unless it is one that will help your career even if you end up leaving your current employer." ????Raines recommends that you try to gain direct responsibility for the company's bottom line in as large a region as possible because you can transfer those skills to other companies. ????Choosing whether to go to Spain or to Latin America, Raines adds, largely depends on your feelings about risk. ????"If you're very entrepreneurial, emerging markets -- including Brazil, the rest of South America, Viet Nam, Moscow, China -- are the frontier. You can build a huge reputation as a sharpshooter and move up quickly." ????If you're more conservative and risk-averse, on the other hand, "you may do better in Europe or another established market, where there are already established procedures and a track record." ????One more thing: If you do decide to make the leap, check out Expat Info Desk, a site run by seasoned expatriate George Eves that offers a wealth of wisdom on everything from relocating your pets to hammering out a workable expat employment contract. ????Vaya con Dios! |
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